R v FAZAH

SENTENCE 1The offender, Farden Fazah, has pleaded guilty to the murder of his child and the wounding of his wife with intent to cause her grievous bodily harm, the two offences having been committed in the course of an incident at their home unit in Canley Vale on 1 January 2011. His plea of guilty to the charge of wounding with intent in respect of his wife was accepted by the Crown in satisfaction of a count of wounding with intent to murder her. 2Murder carries a maximum sentence of imprisonment for life and a standard non-parole period in this case of 25 years, while wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm carries a maximum sentence of 25 years imprisonment with a standard non-parole period of 7 years.

Facts 3An agreed statement of facts records that the offender and his wife, Rasa Fazah, were both born in Afghanistan. They met in 2003 in Pakistan, and married in 2006 in Afghanistan. The offender came to Australia, where his family were living, and he was granted Australian citizenship in July 2007. In December of that year Rasa joined him, having been granted a spousal visa. 4At the time of the offences the offender was 32 years old, and Rasa was 24. The child who was the victim of the murder was their daughter, Maria, who was born in September 2008. She was their only child, and she was 2 years old when she met her death. 5The relationship between the offender and his wife was troubled. The offender was controlling of her, forbidding her to manage her own money or to buy groceries on her own. Shortly after she arrived in Australia, there was an argument during which she cut her wrist with a knife. The offender took the knife from her and stabbed himself in the stomach area, saying words to the effect of, "Before you stab yourself I will stab myself." He threatened her with cancellation of her sponsorship and her removal from Australia. Her mother in Afghanistan insisted that she remain with him and be an obedient wife. 6On a number of occasions the offender was violent towards her. On one of those occasions, when she was about 5 months pregnant, he threatened to kill her if she told police about his violence or wanted to divorce him. However, he promised not to hit her again. On an occasion in February 2009, he punched her to the face during an argument. A concerned neighbour called the police and, as a result, an apprehended domestic violence order for 6 months was made. On yet another occasion, during an argument, he said that he would not hit her again, adding, "Next time if I hit you I will kill you, I will kill Maria and I will kill myself." 7However, he was never violent towards the child, Maria, and always treated her affectionately. 8The fateful day, 1 January 2011, was the offender's 32nd birthday. Rasa Fazah had made an arrangement to go to the beach with a friend, Fariha Kanwal, who lived at unit 1 in their block, with their respective children. In the morning of 1 January, although the offender appeared to be resentful of the fact that Ms Kanwal and her children were to join them, he said that he was happy to go to the beach with the family. However, he later changed his attitude. During an argument about an inconsequential matter he became angry, and Rasa said, "Do you not want to go to the beach? You go and tell Fariha we are not going." 9Rasa left their unit, unit 6, and went to unit 1. She told Ms Kanwal that she and the offender were having an argument, and that they were not going to the beach. She was upset and crying by this time because the offender would often change their plans. The two women discussed going to a nearby park, but remained in unit 1 because it was cooler than unit 6. 10Rasa returned to unit 6 and collected Maria, some personal belongings and some spare clothes for the child. The offender said, "If you leave, don't come back." Raza replied, "You are always saying these things, I am going to Fariha's house because it is too hot." 11She returned to unit 1, where she and Ms Kanwal decided to go to the park with their children. At about 6.30pm she returned to unit 6 because Maria had wet herself and required a change of clothes. She and the offender did not speak to each other. At one stage she said to the child, within the hearing of the offender, that they were going to the park and that she would give her some juice. The offender called out, "You cannot go anywhere." 12He walked over to her and raised his hand with a closed fist. He put his hand across her neck and pushed her against a wall next to the fridge. He laughed and said, "You are scared of me". Rasa said, "No, I am not scared of you, if you hit me I will call the police, I want my phone". He said, "Are you serious?" She replied, "Yes, I am serious, if you hit me I will call the police". Rasa walked over to the lounge, where her phone was. 13As she approached the lounge the offender started punching her to the right side of her face, around six times. She was screaming and trying to cover her face. Maria was standing in the same room, screaming and crying. She was uninjured at that time. 14The offender walked to the front door and locked it, then hurriedly walked to the kitchen. Rasa ran to the door and opened it, and then ran down the stairs. The offender chased after her. The child was left alone in their unit. 15The stairs led to a ground floor landing. As Rasa reached the bottom of the stairs, she tripped over and fell to the ground. The offender stood over her, holding a kitchen knife. Rasa said, "Don't do this, please don't do this". The offender stabbed her deep into her right shoulder. She held her hands above her face and her heart to protect herself. She could feel the knife striking her arms, hands, shoulders, face, chest and stomach. She called out for help, and she could hear Maria calling out her name from upstairs. 16Ms Kanwal opened her unit door, which was close to where the assault was taking place. She saw the offender bent over Rasa and he turned towards her, pointing the bloodstained knife in her direction. She quickly closed her door and called 000. 17A bystander, Son Tran, was nearby outside the building at that time. He heard screams and ran over. He saw the offender standing over Rasa, striking her as she was on the ground. He saw the offender strike her directly to the face twice. Mr Tran picked up a skateboard that was nearby and screamed out to the offender to get back. He moved closer towards the offender and Rasa. The offender ran away up the stairs towards unit 6. 18Mr Tran went to Rasa, noticed that she was bleeding heavily, and asked if she was ok. Rasa replied, "My 2 year old daughter, she's still upstairs, he has got her with him, please, please." Mr Tran asked what unit she was from and she told him it was unit 6. He walked up the stairs. He found a knife, with a broken handle, on the stairs. He was concerned that the offender may be armed in his unit so he did not knock on the door. He went back down the stairs to assist Rasa and arranged for a nearby relative to call the police. 19Rasa was concerned about Maria because she could not hear her screaming anymore. She said to him, "My daughter is still up there with him, please help, please help." During this time the offender used another knife to inflict fatal stab wounds to the child. He then inflicted various stab wounds to himself. 20Police arrived on the scene a little after 6.45pm. Asked what had started the argument, Rasa said, "My husband would not let me go out with a friend, he never lets me out." She was conveyed to Liverpool Hospital. At about 7.20pm Tactical Operations officers arrived and attempts were made to get the offender to leave the unit. 21Police made contact with him by phone and told him they were concerned for his welfare. At about 7.45pm, in a phone conversation, the offender said that he was injured. Asked if the child was ok, he did not reply. Asked if he was ok, he replied, "I have hurt myself ... help me, break my door, I have stabbed myself heaps of times, I need help, she is dying ... I cannot open the door, I'm hurt. I cannot get up, I need help, I am stabbed, my child is dying." 22Shortly thereafter police entered the unit. The offender was sitting on the lounge room floor, covered in blood, and the child was lying near him, motionless, on her back. First aid was applied to both of them and they were rushed to hospital. 23Attempts to revive Maria at Westmead Children's Hospital were unsuccessful. According to a post mortem examination, the direct cause of her death was "penetrating incised (stab) wounds to chest and upper abdomen". She was found to have three stab wounds to those areas. In addition, she was found to have minor recent injuries to her right leg and bruising to her upper neck "possibly reflecting blunt force trauma to this side at around the time the stab wounds had been inflicted". 24Rasa Fazah was taken to Liverpool Hospital. She was found to have numerous stab wounds to her upper body, arms, hands and head. She was severely bruised to the face. The treating surgeon opined that the injuries observed were consistent with direct and defensive injuries in the course of an assault with a sharp object such as a knife. The injuries to the hands would cause "prolonged considerable morbidity and reduction in function." She was cleared for discharge 7 days later, although she had to remain in hospital for a further period while arrangements for housing were made for her. 25The offender was taken to Liverpool Hospital. On his arrival his Glasgow Coma score was 14 and he had no detectable blood pressure. There were puncture wounds to his neck, chest and abdomen. He underwent surgery, where a penetrating wound to his left chest and a laceration of the anterior abdominal wall muscles were repaired. The treating surgeon noted other superficial abdominal lacerations and three small puncture wounds to the neck. Analysis of a blood sample taken from him detected no drugs or alcohol. 26When interviewed by police on 7 January 2011, the offender said that he could not remember anything. He asked to see his wife. He was discharged from hospital on 11 January. He has remained in custody since his arrest on 1 January 2011.